Lemon and herb crusted sea bass

There was a Scotland game on tonight (0-0 against Lithuania, good performance but we should’ve won) so I needed something quick for dinner before the game. Quick, relatively easy but also fancying something I hadn’t cooked before my thoughts started turning towards fish.

I’d meant to look through my books yesterday for some inspiration but never really got round to it, so instead I took advantage of a quiet moment in the office to take a look at the BBC Good Food website and the first thing I saw was this recipe for Lemon and rosemary crusted fish fillets. Well, that’ll do nicely thought I.

A quick trip to the supermarket on the way home to pick up a couple of sea bass fillets, a bottle of wine and a lemon then it was down to business. My girlfriend set about making some potato wedges and while they were getting started we got rid rid of the previous night’s dishes (some Nando’s marinaded chicken that we didn’t finish until around 9, by which time we just could not get any enthusiasm for the washing up). We didn’t quite make it in time for kick off so we kept the wedges warm until half time then got the sea bass under the grill so it was ready for the start of the second half.

I’m very happy to say the fish was a lot better than the football result (a good performance severely lacking in Scottish goals). As usual I made a few additions to the initial recipe and added parsley to the breadcrumb mix as well as a little olive oil while it was being mixed in the processor to help it hold together when placed on the fish. If you like a lot of citrus zing I’d probably put a squeeze of lemon juice into the crumb mix instead of olive oil

In a food processor combine the rosemary, parsley, bread, grated zest of the lemon and seasoning with a little bit of olive oil.
Put the fillets skin side up on a baking tray then place them under a hot grill for a few minutes until the skin starts to crisp up and brown.
Turn the fillets over and press on the breadcrumb mix to cover the flesh, drizzle with olive oil then put them back under the grill until the bread is golden brown and the fish is just flaky.
Squeeze some lemon juice over the fish and serve with wedges or new potatoes.